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Frequent sex linked to good health late in life, study finds

A good sex life is correlated with good health late in life, researchers find.

Do you see yourself as going through old age like one of those gray-haired Cougars on the Cialis commercials? They look so bleedin’ happy. Trim, ruddy-cheeked, in the peak of health.

An article in the British Medical Journal, published on Tuesday, suggests that healthy glow may not just be a Madison Avenue invention.

Two researchers from the University of Chicago’s OB-Gyn and geriatrics department found that people in good health do have more sex, and they continue being sexually active later in life.

Poor health, however, was correlated with a lack of sexual activity later in life.

So are people having more sex because they’re in good shape and feel like it? Or are they in good shape precisely because they have a lot of sex?

Good health and love go together.

The study found evidence of both: The more sex people had, the better health they reported.

And having frequent sex in middle age was a good predictor for staying sexually active later in life, especially for men.

Among people between ages 75 to 85, almost 40 percent of men compared with 17 percent of women were sexually active.

“At age 55, men in very good or excellent health on average gained 5-7 years of sexually active life compared with their peers in poor or fair health. Women in very good or excellent health gained 3-6 years compared with women in poor or fair health.”

The researchers analyzed 3,032 responses to the national survey of midlife development in the United States, 1995-6 , and the national social life, health and ageing project, 2005-6.

So will this be enough to get middle aged folks to quit smoking, stop overeating and start exercising? The authors suggested it just might be more ammunition for doctors trying to convince patients to get healthy.